City When It Rains

Manhattan is the titular city of Cook's 10th novel, which is somewhat more successful with ambience than with suspense. Freelance photographer David Corman is facing eviction from his run-down apartment and a custody battle for his young daughter, who lives with him. His crime-scene photos are unprofitable and though he has been offered a steady job covering high-society functions, he stubbornly resists work that threatens his journalistic integrity. Encouraged to create a photo-essay about a murderer or victim whose life ended as a result of a ``slow decline,'' Corman investigates the alleged suicide of a mentally unstable Columbia graduate who, despite her privileged upbringing, wound up in a slum, gradually starving but giving blood to make money to ``feed'' the doll she treated as a baby. The mystery of the woman's death unfolds as Corman's domestic situation becomes increasingly desperate. Although Cook's ( Night Secrets ) settings and main characters are believably rendered, the mystery is less than gripping and the narrative features obtrusive yet essentially meaningless secondary characters, including Corman's married lover and a sinister cop. (Jan.)